Four players made available for free transfer

5 May 2016

Tom Champion, Ben Tomlinson, Shaun Batt and Mauro Vilhete can leave the club this summer.

Good morning.

This morning I’ve had a chat with a few players.

Tom Champion has done really well for us through this season. But I just feel that we need to make some changes this summer, to take us forward into next season. Tom still has a year to go on his contract, but obviously he wants to be playing more games. So I feel that now is the right time to say that he is free to go and find himself a new club. He’s a great captain and a great person to have around the place. I really like him, but I do need to try and move the whole thing forward. So this morning I’ve had a chat with Tom and told him that he is available for a free transfer.

Ben Tomlinson has been out on loan for most of the season, and he has got a year to go on his contract. He’s done really well at Barrow, scoring quite a few goals. Ben has also been made available for a free transfer this morning, to find himself a new club, get playing, and get goals under his belt. I know he can do it – he’s a great lad who is very popular in the dressing room. We’ll see what happens with Ben.

I’ve also spoken to Shaun Batt this morning. He is an absolute diamond of a bloke – you couldn’t wish to meet a better person than Shaun Batt. He’s great in the dressing room and he has been fantastic in training. I think he needs someone to give him a break; to play regular first team football, so that he can get his confidence back up. He’s got so much talent that we see week in and week out on the training pitch. I’m sure that soon we’re going to see him transfer that to competitive first team football, which I think that Shaun desperately needs now. We’re going to give him a free transfer nice and early, so that he can get out there and find a club for next season.

Mauro Vilhete is always going to be a legend at this football club, for scoring those goals last year against Gateshead. So it’s with a heavy heart that I feel that Mauro needs to go out and play more first team football. He’s a terrific lad that is very popular, and it’s a sad decision that I’ve got to make. But like I say, I’ve got to try and bring through the young players that we’ve got at the club. I want to bring them forward through the summer and pre-season, so I’ve also decided to give Mauro a free transfer this morning.

That’s four players that I’ve spoken to, and that’s where we are as of today.